Quaternary alkylammonium compounds have a variety of commercial applications, including in the textile industry and the personal care industry. In many of these applications, it is desirable to provide the quaternary alkylammonium compound in a high purity form. Conventional compositions either possess undesirable amounts of impurities or require concentration or purification steps that increase production costs. Consequently, processes for preparing compositions having higher concentrations of the quaternary alkylammonium halide and reduced levels of impurities are much needed and would be very useful.